Profiles

Ross Eason bases his Sunshine Coast commercial photography business on exceeding clients' expectations, and he has the skill, creative confidence and work ethic to do so. It's the other factors - the ones beyond his control - which can make the task an unforseen challenge.

For example, he was off the coast of New Caledonia earlier this year, shooting a luxury 21-metre cabin cruiser. The client had spent many thousands of dollars getting the product to the location and Eason had attended to every detail of the shoot. That included making sure the weather report was good. Unfortunately, the actual weather wasn't. It was overcast, producing nothing but flat grey light.

But even then, Eason had his mastery of Photoshop to fall back on. You can see the results, and similar 'before-and-after' examples of his sophisticated digital enhancement, by visiting Eason Creative Photography's website (www.eason.com.au). An item in the site's entertaining and educational News section tells the full story.


Riviera Marine Noumea


Riviera Marine 70' Fly bridge cruiser, New Caledonia, retouched shot.

'Photoshop has become a way of life for professional photographers,' says Eason. 'Everybody has a slightly different view of it, and to me it's just another tool to be used. But it has to be used wisely. When it's done poorly, you tend to notice it, and you shouldn't. Images that reek of poor Photoshopping just demean the industry.

'The way I see it, every client and job is different. A good photographer should do their homework so they don't end up in bad situations. But it does happen, due to all sorts of things - the weather turning foul, models not showing up, somebody not delivering, or whatever. But as professional photographers, with all the tools at our disposal - be it cameras or computers or, going back to the film days, just using movements on a camera - we should have the confidence to use those tools as we see fit to make sure we service the client.'

Which doesn't mean he's an 'anything goes' kind of operator. He draws the line at misrepresenting reality. 'I've had clients ask me to drop in views that are unrealistic. Such as the property developer who wanted the distant ocean brought closer to his new high-rise so it would look like you could almost cast a line from the balcony. Or the real estate agents who ask me to take out power poles and power lines. But I think it's unethical to do that sort of thing and I'm not bashful in saying no. I'll find a solution if I can - maybe shoot from another angle or crop - but I won't misrepresent a scene. I've probably lost jobs because of it, and I don't have an issue with it. I'm happy to die poor, but I'm also happy to die ethical.'

Eason uses Mamiya ZD and Nikon D3 cameras. He has a lot of pro lighting gear, but uses it very selectively. 'I've refined my lighting over the years. I try to keep it looking natural, using small amounts of well controlled light rather than gobs of it. Scanning and Photoshop allows you to do that.'

Darkroom rat
Eason, who's based in Buderim, an hour's drive north of Brisbane, has more than 30 years of experience in commercial photography. He was made an associate of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography in 1998 and awarded its Master of Photography distinction in 2003.

'I left school in Sydney in 1973 when I was offered a job as a darkroom rat in a commercial studio,' he says. 'Jobs in photography were as rare as hens' teeth and you had to know somebody. I would have been crazy not to take it.'

He worked for a couple of other photographers, bought his way into a business, then established his own business. 'In Sydney it was very much a corporate, retail and advertising market. I used to do a lot of work for computer companies, catalogs and PR companies. One of my clients was Apple Computers and I recognised digital was the way to go quite early on and seized the opportunity. Just when I was leaving Sydney for Queensland in the early 1990s, digital was the buzzword and I bought a scanner, then a couple more. I still have them. I'm not averse to shooting film if a job requires it, but the bulk of my clients don't want to see film. They wouldn't know what to do with it and they would have trouble finding someone to scan it properly.'

Most of his work is now in the tourism, resort and property development area, and he continues to do some product and food photography, and portraits and weddings.


'This image was designed to represent the total experience of visiting the client's aquarium, Siam Ocean World, in Bangkok,' says Ross Eason. 'It's a composite of about 12 shots because it would have been almost impossible to do as one shot. When you're dealing with sharks or marine creatures, you can't say, "Look, the exposure's going to be down an eighth of a second, so can you just hold it there?" The main shot took half a day to set up, with eight high-power flashlights producing 30,000 watt seconds. We custom-designed a triggering device so the camera, in an underwater housing, could fire the flashes above water.'

He also does some aerial photography from a helicopter. Even though he lives in Queensland - where, as everybody knows, it's 'beautiful one day, perfect the next' - he estimates that he gets about 12 ideal days a year for this work. In a recently posted item on the website, he explained to potential clients that such a day has no smog or haze, sun without cloud, and very light winds keeping the ocean flat and smooth. While most of his work is commissioned, he recently introduced cost-shared aerial photographic runs on days that match the above conditions.

With much of his outdoor work being on the Gold Coast, an hour's drive south of Brisbane, he's accustomed to long days with two-hour commutes. 'Long days are mandatory for a commercial photographer if you're going to survive,' he says. 'That includes finding the time for your marketing and taking care of the business side.' His wife, Judy, who does a lot of the marketing and some of the Photoshopping, is effectively his production manager.

Sharing secrets
There's also the time he puts into his stylish website. Allowing people to view the before-and-after shots, and posting articles on subjects such as the purpose and requirements of model releases, means taking an uncommonly candid approach to his working methods.

'A few years ago, maybe I would have said I'm not going to share my secrets, and I know a lot of other photographers would say that. Photography is a very secretive society in some ways. But the site is really there to educate my clients. If other photographers pick up on it... well, there's nothing you can do about that when you're on the web.'

The before-and-after comparisons are to educate clients about what a good marketing photo should look like, he says, quickly adding: 'That's not to say my photos are good.'

- The fact that he was asked to be a judge at the recent AIPP Queensland professional photography awards, and he won three silver awards at the event (without being able to vote for his own work), would indicate otherwise.


See Photo Review magazine Issue 41 for the print edition of this profile which includes additional images.

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